There's not much left to say about this literary classic. It's great to have all of the stories and novels put together, in the order that they were published--there are references here and there to things that happened in previous stories. Of course, you don't have to read everything in order, but its worth it all the same.
Some of my all-time favorite stories in this volume of the collection are "The Red-Headed League," and "The Adventure of the Speckled Band." Also worth a read are the short novels A Study In Scarlet, The Sign of Four, and The Hound of the Baskervilles. They illustrate Doyle's (and Holmes's) mastery of the art of observation. As Holmes says in a story in the second volume, "I see as much as you, but I notice what I see." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is one of my all-time favorite authors; this collection is highly recommended. Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Vol. 1
If you are a mystery fan, this is a can't-miss collection of the early Sherlock Holmes stories. While most of the stories are not as clever as the ones in the original Sherlock collection ("The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes"), this book introduces two pivotal figures in the series - Sherlock's eccentric brother Mycroft and the evil mastermind Professor Moriarity. Most fans agree that the stories in ADVENTURES and MEMOIRS set the standard to which all other Sherlock stories are compared.
This book offered some of the lesser known writings of Doyle, as well as, some of the better known stories like "The Sign of Four". My only gripe was that the font was bit small and I was feeling like a detective myself holding a magnifying glass just to make out the words.
Arthur Conan Doyle captures my interest with each little detail and surprise that awaits our true Bohenian Detective and his companion Watson. The dialogue is always fluid and natural. And the stories are so involving. I recommend anyone hoping to become a writer someday to tackle Doyle's works headon. You'll be better for it.
Of the two volumes, this happens to be my favourite. Matter of fact, this is my favourite piece of fiction to date. There's some great stories in this volume, particularly, The Adventure of the Devil's Foot. The Bruce Partington Plans, Shoscombe Old Place etc.
The Case Book Stories found in this volume, the last twelve are probably the most romantic (not to be confused with romance, although there is some of that), on the part of Holmes' biographer Dr. John Watson (Doyle) and not as deeply scientific as some of the earlier works found in the first volume, like the Five Orange Pips.
The beauty of this volume though, works upon your imagination using your fascination with Holmes's outlandishness and quirky behavior and Watson's down-home bed-side manner.
A classic volume, indeed.
I have the whole collection of the Sherlock Holmes, and they are my all-time favorite books. There was never a better character, stories, or anything. I personally think that the reason many people think they start out slowly is because you have to understand the basic facts or you'll be puzzled when he's in the middle of the "big deal." They start out calm and get more and more exciting, so by the time the climax comes, you're almost nuts to read it all and find out what was going on! Anyways, this is the FIRST book I would buy for my fiction library.
I first read Sherlock Holmes when I was six years old, and if you read him every ten years they are as good as new. (I'm now 64). Stern and arrogant, but fair he was: though concerning the Giant Rat of Sumatra he may have been a little reticent.
The typeface is a bit too faint, but these novels and short stories excel in the Bantam editions because they are in chronological order. This makes it easier to understand "His Last Bow" for example.
I purchased both volumes at the same time so this review serves for both.
Conan Doyle gets all the credit! Try all the rest of his books.
It was such a pleasure to revisit some of these classic tales again for the first time since my teenage days. In addition to being packed full of brilliant stories, I really liked the format of the book as well -- although it's thick (just over 1000 pages) it's small and compact, which is good because you won't be able to put it down and thus will end up taking it with you everywhere you go! At least I did.
I saved the first two lengthier stories-- A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four-- for rainy evenings and started off with the shorter stories, which can be enjoyed "on the go", like bite-sized literary treats. Each tale is entertaining and captivating in its own way and the characters and situations are so brilliantly portrayed that you'll quickly forget you're reading fiction. Conan Doyle's writing style sweeps the reader back to the days of gas-lit London and makes you feel like you're right in the middle of everything that's happening.
The chemistry between Watson and Holmes is just delicious and while each story has a serious element to it, there is lots of humour sprinkled throughout. I think "A Study in Scarlet" is one of Conan Doyle's finest achievements as a writer and held me captive until the wee hours of the morning, and that's the sort of thing you want in good fiction. Looking forward to devouring Volume II.
I always admired Sherlock Holmes as a great detective, but never actually took to reading the actual stories. I must say this is a great book, though it starts off a bit slow with the way-too-drawn-out Sign of Four and Study in Scarlet, it picks up with the well done short storys like The Engineer's Thumb, The Red-Headed League, The Speckled Band, The Yellow Face and oh-so-many more. This is deffenately one to pick up, it's a thick book, too, at 1059 pages,
Thirty-six stories plus two of the four novels: that's more than half of the canon. All for seven bucks? We're talking about one of the classics of modern English literature. Even if it's been parodied and portrayed in more ways that you can shake a walking stick at, this collection still offers new readers the chance to discover a lifelong companion.
True, the font size is not huge (they need to fit over a thousand pages into this book, after all!), but it's certainly very legible. In return you get a book that you can take anywhere, in an admittedly large pocket. There's actually a combined book (Volumes I & II) but it's more than two pounds (weight not price!). That might be pushing it.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Sherlock-Holmes-Novels-Stories/dp/0553328255/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251820613&sr=1-12
Either way, Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is a classic for all time. That's elementary! - Detective - Mystery - Arthur Conan Doyle - British Mysteries'
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